NORFOLK

Ronnie Boone Sr. avoided jail time for committing bank fraud and bribing a councilman, but on Friday he was locked up for driving a car.

A federal marshal led the Norfolk businessman out of a courtroom in handcuffs after a judge ordered him to serve 60 days behind bars. Boone admitted he violated the terms of his probation by getting behind the wheel.

U.S. District Judge Henry Morgan Jr. spared Boone jail time in March and imposed a year of house arrest instead, but he scheduled Friday’s hearing after Boone was photographed driving a red 1966 Plymouth Fury. The judge had barred Boone from driving because of health problems.

Boone asked for mercy, telling Morgan, “I want to say I’m sorry. I’m sorry I made this stupid error. ... (If you) give me a break one more time, you won’t see me in this court again, I promise.”

After he’s let out of jail, Boone will be on supervised release for three years, the first year under house arrest. That means the nearly six months he had already served at home is lost time.

A bystander’s photos of Boone driving the car on July 26 were quickly obtained by The Virginian-Pilot and Boone’s probation officer.

Ronnie Boone Sr. was caught on camera on Wednesday, July 26, 2017, behind the wheel of a car in Norfolk, a possible violation of his house arrest.

Courtesy photo

In court Friday, Boone admitted he was driving and had violated his probation. The only question was what consequence there would be.

Melissa O’Boyle, a federal prosecutor, asked the judge to give Boone between three and nine months behind bars, in line with federal guidelines for the violation. Defense lawyer Jon Babineau suggested that, instead of jail time, the judge impose tighter restrictions on Boone’s movements or the hours he can be out of his house.

Babineau said Boone drove for only a few blocks. The Plymouth had a bad transmission and apparently broke down while someone else was taking it to a car wash on East Little Creek Road so it could be detailed and put up for sale, he said. He added that Boone got into the car, managed to put it back into gear, then drove it the rest of the way.

The judge said he was troubled by that lie, which Babineau admitted, and by the fact that Boone had driven despite his reportedly serious health problems. Those medical issues, including uncontrolled high blood pressure, led Morgan to spare Boone jail time – and to order that he avoid driving, which could endanger others.

O’Boyle told the judge a photo of a smiling Boone getting out of the car after parking it was “worth a thousand words.”

“This wasn’t an emergency, your honor. He wasn’t rushing someone to the hospital,” O’Boyle said. “He was taking his car to get it detailed.”

Boone pleaded guilty in September to bank fraud and conspiracy to commit honest service wire fraud. The charges stem from lies he told two banks regarding a pair of multimillion-dollar loans and a series of bribes he says he paid then-Councilman Anthony Burfoot and others.

After his plea, Boone testified against Burfoot, who was convicted in December of public corruption and perjury and is serving a six-year prison term.

Burfoot was elected Norfolk treasurer in 2013 and was serving in that office at the time of his trial, but he was convicted for actions taken earlier while serving as a councilman and vice mayor. He has been ousted as treasurer but maintains his innocence and is appealing.

In March, when Morgan walked into his courtroom for Boone’s sentencing hearing, the judge was planning to send him to prison for a year. But after learning about Boone’s poor health, the judge said he believed time behind bars would endanger the 68-year-old man’s life.

He placed Boone on house arrest but allowed the longtime owner of Boone Builders Inc., the Ocean View Fishing Pier and three Ocean View restaurants to continue to live in a Norfolk home and work with his businesses. Morgan ordered Boone to wear a GPS-enabled anklet at all times and follow several other conditions – including not driving.

Babineau said Boone is complying with his other obligations, including making payments on the 2015 bank loan that led to his fraud conviction. Boone borrowed $13.2 million from Fulton Bank and still owes $11 million, which he is scheduled to pay off by June 2020. And Babineau said Boone has paid back more than $700,000 of the $950,000 he was ordered to forfeit to the federal government. He will pay the rest within 10 days, which is months earlier than required, Babineau said.

On Friday, Morgan imposed new limits on Boone’s movements while on house arrest. With the exception of church services and health emergencies, he will be allowed out of his home only from noon to 5 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. Before he was caught driving, he was allowed out until 8 p.m. weekdays.

After having revoked Boone’s probation and issued a new sentence, Morgan nearly forgot to reimpose the ban on driving. As the hearing was about to conclude, O’Boyle asked whether the judge had meant to order that restriction.

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Eric Hartley, the editor for The Pilot's Norfolk and Portsmouth team, has been a reporter, columnist or editor in Maryland, California, Nevada and Virginia. Know about something in Hampton Roads that someone is trying to keep secret? Drop him a line.

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